areal linguistics

The Sound of a Valley: Dialect Leveling in Isolation

Ever wonder why people in isolated places like an Appalachian hollow develop such a unique way of speaking? It's not…

19 hours ago

The Two ‘Haves’ of Irish: Possession as a State

Unlike English, the Irish language doesn't have a single verb for "to have." Instead, to say "I have a book",…

19 hours ago

Why Tocharian Was an Anomaly

Imagine discovering a lost language in Western China that looks far more like Latin or Irish than its immediate neighbors,…

1 week ago

The Altaic Debate: A Family Feud

Are Turkish, Mongolian, Korean, and Japanese distant cousins? The Altaic hypothesis proposes they descend from a single ancient tongue, but…

1 week ago

Why Korean and Japanese Share Grammar

Are Korean and Japanese related languages? While they feel incredibly similar to learners, the answer from linguists is "no." This…

1 week ago

Endangered Slavic Languages You Can Help Save

Beyond the major Slavic languages like Russian and Polish lie hidden linguistic gems on the brink of extinction. Discover the…

1 week ago

East vs. West vs. South Slavic: What’s the Difference?

The Slavic languages are a sprawling family, divided into East, West, and South branches. But what does that split actually…

1 week ago

Why South Slavic Languages Are Drifting Apart

Once considered a single language called Serbo-Croatian, the languages of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro are now actively drifting apart.…

1 week ago

Can Slavic Speakers Understand Each Other?

Can a Pole successfully order a beer in Slovakia? We explore the fascinating world of Slavic mutual intelligibility, testing the…

1 week ago

The Balto-Slavic Mystery: Are They Siblings or Cousins?

A Lithuanian and a Pole can't understand each other, so why do linguists insist their languages are close relatives? We…

1 week ago

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